Answer to Question 1
Kelp forests are highly productive ecosystems that provide shelter for a wide variety of organisms living within or directly upon the kelp as epifauna. These organisms are an important food source for many of the animals living in and near the kelp forest, including mollusks, sea stars, fishes, octopuses, lobsters, and marine mammals. Surprisingly, very few animals feed directly on the living kelp. Among those that do are sea urchins and a large sea slug called the sea hare (Aplysia). An urchin barren is created when the population of sea urchins goes unchecked and the urchins devour entire areas of giant brown bladder kelp (Macrocystis), one of the main types of algae in kelp forests. The urchins chew through the holdfast structure that holds the kelp in place and set it adrift. In California, the severe reduction of animals that prey on urchins (such as the wolf eel and sea otter) has upset the natural balance of ocean food webs. Consequently, sea urchins have proliferated, and urchin barrens now exist where there were once lush kelp beds.
Answer to Question 2
B
Energy flow and chemical recycling in ecosystems.
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